


The End of Time

by drapsmann



Category: Kingdom (Anime & Manga), キングダム | Kingdom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Apocalypse, I Made Myself Cry, In this universe no one is allowed to be happy, M/M, So much angst, Zombie Apocalypse, thank you so much to proofreaders and workshoppers, the shipping is more or less lowkey, this is why i can't have nice things
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:01:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23710585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drapsmann/pseuds/drapsmann
Summary: The plan was to prove Han’s strength to the other states, not to start an apocalypse - but sometimes, things don’t go as planned. Now, it's up to Qin's young generation of royalty and commanders to save not only Qin, but the rest of China.(Coalition Invasion spoilers)
Relationships: Mou Ten | Meng Tian | Ou Hon | Wang Ben
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! I've tried to write fanfiction for Kingdom before, only oneshots, but none of them turned out the way I wanted. But this just feels different. It's something I'm really, truly, enjoying writing. I've even written scenes for future chapters already! As with any work, comments, shares, and kudos are much appreciated!

The frantic messenger was wide-eyed and breathless as he burst into Han’s throne room. He shot past the other politicians gathered in restless chatter, running straight to the king, his boots squeaking on the floor as he slid into a kneel.

“Your Majesty!” he panted, gasping for air, “general Sei Kai has been slain by general Chou Tou of Qin!”

The hall burst in a panicked clamour.

“We must set the plan -“

“The time to act is now!”

“Without Sei Kai -“

“Too dangerous -“

“Han must prove itself!”

Through the cacophony, the king was silent. His wide eyes almost seemed to pop out of their sockets as he wrung his hands violently, gaping like a fish who’d just been wrenched from the water, only able to make choked and guttural noises of fear. He stared into space, seemingly unnoticing of the nobles who’d stood up and begun to make threatening gestures at each other. Beads of terrified sweat began to pour down his face as his knuckles turned white. Suddenly he jerked, pulled out of whatever trance of alarm he’d been caught in. 

“Silence!” 

The room quieted almost immediately as the men reveled in his echoing order.

“Your Majesty, I - I await your command.”

“We must send a messenger back to the front lines - how long did it take for you to travel from Qin to here?”

“Four days at full speed, Your Majesty!”

“What updates do you have on the coalition's progress?”

The king seemed stronger now - he was in control, he was the boss.

“On the same day as general Sei Kai’s death, the coalition army launched an all-out attack on Qin after days of attrition warfare. Ka Rin of Chu had surrounded Tou’s armies, and Kan Mei of Chu was hit by an echelon formation by Mou Bu. Go Hou Mei of Wei had used siege crossbows to climb Kankoku Pass, which was almost overrun. Chou Tou died after slaying Sei Kai.”

Soft murmurs rang throughout the room.

“A messenger will be sent to the front lines, with orders for Sei Kai’s deputy to set the intended plan in motion.”

It was clear from the whispers and glares that most nobles weren’t pleased with this decision, but when they saw the steely eyes of their king, they knew that protest was futile.

“Soon, Han will rise to the top as a nation to be feared!”

●●●

Even as the sun sank in the sky and the air grew colder, Ou Hon felt no chills, only sweat pouring down his face and his spear slipping in his hands after fighting all day long. He was warm and tired and he knew his men were too, but he couldn’t stop.

_Don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t stop -_

And suddenly, everything did stop. All at once, the coalition soldiers fell - some stilled immediately, while most writhed on the blood-soaked ground, foaming at the mouth and clawing at their heads. Uneasy, Ou Hon glanced from the screaming soldiers over to Ban You, and back to the soldiers again. Ban You was just as perplexed, and as the soldiers on the ground stilled completely, they had to settle their frantic horses.

Ou Hon stared down at the man he’d stabbed just as the soldiers fell - foaming spittle surrounded his mouth, and the parts of his head visible through his hair were blemished with angry red scratches. His eyes had rollen back into his head, showing only whites.

Aside from the panicked whinnies of horses, the battlefield was eerily silent. Ou Hon was sure he could spill a single drop of wine on the ground and it would be heard throughout the entire Gyoku Hou Unit.

It was sudden, like a flash of lightning, how the dead men leapt from their gruesome resting place to lunge at the Gyoku Hou Unit.

“Ou Hon-sama, what -“

“I don’t know! Just retreat!”

The hunters had become the hunted.

The Gyoku Hou was immediately ordered to retreat by their commander, but so many still fell, unable to react quickly enough to escape their demise. The dead men rose from the ground with inhuman speed, some running on all fours like wild animals as they jumped on the backs of infantrymen and clambered onto the horses’ hindquarters, opening their jaws wide and sinking their teeth into any man’s exposed flesh and ripping it off, staining everything around a dark shade of crimson red and revealing the soft pink muscles underneath.

Two kinds of screams filled the air - those of men and those of beasts.

Ou Hon spared a glance behind him, even as Ban You yelled at him to keep going - he was a seasoned soldier, he was used to seeing his men die, yet his stomach lurched and bile filled his throat as he saw their faces being ripped off by the teeth of men who were dead moments ago. He turned back, digging his heels into his horse, spurring her onwards.


	2. Chapter 2

The Hi Shin Unit was just two days outside of Sai when a messenger caught up with them. The sky was a bright, cloudless blue as the hot sun beat down on their exhausted, weary backs, but they kept going with the thought of seeing their wives and children once more - they certainly weren’t happy to be stopped.

“His Majesty has summoned Shin of the Hi Shin Unit as well as strategist Ka Ryo Ten!”

“What for?” Ten asked him as she glanced at Shin, who shrugged at her.

“Don’t look at me, I dunno what he wants,” the young commander shrugged.

“I was not told, ma’am, I was instructed only to bring you to the palace as quickly as possible for a matter of urgency.”

Shin glared at the man, riding his horse to his side and getting right in his face.

“You workin’ for Ryo Fui?”

Ten watched intently. Those around them were silent.

The messenger was taken aback by Shin’s intensity and how close he was, “N - no, sir. I am strictly a messenger.”

“I don’t like this, it’s weird,” Shin grumbled, glaring threateningly at the flustered messenger.

“Calm down,” Ten said, resting a hand on his shoulder, “I don’t think he’s with Ryo Fui. What would he want with us? We don’t have any sway in the court.”

“But it’s weird -”

“Oh, be quiet. Let’s just follow him back,” she sighed, then turned to the messenger, “and the rest of the unit?”

“They are to remain in Sai.”

Before Shin could say anything, Ka Ryo Ten called out at the top of her lungs,

“We return to Sai! Hi Shin Unit, move out!”

“Way to steal a guy’s thunder…”

●●●

“Y’know, I never get tired of these stairs.”

“That’s because of your ape strength, you brute,” Ten panted, stopping to rest her hands on her knees, “even with your injuries you’re not even breaking a sweat!”

“Don’t call me an ape!” Shin protested, glaring at her.

“I didn’t, I called you a brute,” Ten laughed, momentarily forgetting her exhaustion.

Shin grumbled something under his breath before continuing.

“I don’t mean, like, literally tired. The stairs always bring back good memories, like when Sei took the throne back from Sei Kyou,” he said.

Shin turned back around to Ten, grinning, “Climbing these stairs means we’ll get to see Sei, and I’m always down for that!” he laughed. Ten smiled back at him.

“Me too, Shin. Me too.”

As they continued their hike, and even Shin grew weary, more and more of the grand palace became visible.

As they neared the top of the stairs, the pair saw two people waiting for them - one had a glinting gold headpiece, the other a shining silver headband.

“Ou Hon,” Shin snarled, “The hell is he doing here?”

Ten rolled her eyes at the all-too-familiar childish rivalry as she gathered the last of her energy to jog up the last couple dozen steps, racing Shin. The latter scowled at Ou Hon as Ten put up a futile fuss when Shou Bun Kun ruffled her hair.

“Shin, Ka Ryo Ten, welcome. I’m glad you made it here so quickly,” Shou Bun Kun greeted.

“Yeah, old man, no problem,” Shin panted, “Now could ya tell us what this is all about?”

Ou Hon glared at him.

“You do know who this is, right? Idiot.” Ou Hon was just as irritating as ever, if not more so, what with how he carried himself while wearing those opulent purple and white robes that Shin would never be able to afford. Shin noticed how soft the silk looked, and that just pissed him off more.

“Course I do -” he retorted before being interrupted.

“Do not bother yourself, commander. His insolence is nothing new,” Shou Bun Kun sighed.

“ - and shouldn’t you be chasin’ down the coalition or whatever?” Shin finished.

“Don’t talk before you know what’s going on,” Ou Hon snapped, “and for your information, I was, until the enemy soldiers turned into a bunch of… monsters.”

“Monsters?” Ten asked.

“You heard me. Monsters. His Majesty will tell you more.”

Shou Bun Kun led Shin and Ten inside, Ou Hon on their tail. It’d been some time since Shin had set foot in the palace, and he always loved the foreign sights and the smells. Sunlight filtered in through the open windows, soft rays of light showing the specs of dust floating lazily through the air. Everytime they passed a window, Shin felt yellow warmth coat his body as the sun’s light shone in his eyes. The sharp, biting scent of gold filled his nose, and he relished it. Every now and then, the old wooden floors creaked, interrupting the tense silence of two pairs of silk slippers, one pair of cloth shoes, and a pair of armoured boots hitting the floor in rythme. 

As they neared the throne room, Shin felt his heart pick up pace. This happened every time he stepped into the palace, waiting to see his best friend, and as the group rounded the last corner of the long hallway before the throne room, and the entranceway was in view, the young commander couldn’t help himself and ran past Shou Bun Kun.

“Shin!” Ka Ryo Ten called after him, “don’t run in the palace!”

“Yo, Sei -” Shin greeted, but his enthusiasm dropped and he faltere when he saw the young king. Even without the bandage wrapped around his neck, he would’ve looked weary and exhausted. Despite having been in great health - besides his healing neck wound - just a few days prior, he was now even paler than normal with sunken, gaunt cheeks. Underneath his amber eyes sat dark purple bags - his had always shown more easily than others’ - and his messy hair was pulled back out of his face with a black string as he knelt in front of a map.

“Shin, I’m glad to see you’re in good spirits - but please, don’t run in the palace,” he greeted.  
“That’s what I said,” Ten piped up, laughing, but she too stopped when she saw her brother’s appearance, “Sei? Are you okay?”

He simply sighed softly through his nose, waiting until Shou Bun Kun and Ou Hon sat down around the map with him. Sei sat on the side closest to the throne, with Ten beside him. Ou Hon sat to his right with Shin on the left, and Shou Bun Kun sat across from Sei.

“Commander.”

Ou Hon dipped his head, “Your Majesty?”

“Please explain the situation and what you know about these monsters to Shin and Ten.”

“Of course,” Ou Hon started, gesturing to the map, “this shows Qin’s East border, which we share with Zhao and Wei. After the coalition was pushed back, the various armies fled to Zhao and Wei before dispersing, in order to get out of Qin territory as soon as possible. While we were chasing them down, they -” Ou Hon shuddered “- they dropped to the ground. They began to foam at the mouth, writhing, and suddenly dropped dead. Moments later they rose and began to chase down our armies, taking down every soldier they could and tearing them to shreds - with their teeth. They devoured as much of our army as they could. As we continued to flee, they kept on going, never stopping. Eventually we came to a fortress that the coalition army had captured before their defeat and locked ourselves inside it. Well over three quarters of my unit was devoured.”

The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife, the silence so pure that they could hear the breeze moving through the trees outside.

“How…” Ten started, “how is this possible? Has anything like this ever happened before?”

“A Han spy relayed a message to me; ‘The Han king has used the prowess of poison general Sei Kai to create a substance that, when consumed, will kill the man, and then he will turn into a cannibalistic monster who feels no pain and does not die like an ordinary human.’”

“What a psycho,” Shin declared, “who the hell does this?”

Ten murmured something behind her hand, concentrated in thought.

“What?” Shin asked.

“Oh, sorry. I said a nation of the lowest tier.”

“What?”

Ou Hon rolled his eyes, “You’re lucky you’ve got her or your whole unit would be dead by now,” he said, ignoring Shin’s glare, “she’s saying that a state with no power, such as Han, could be driven to do this because -”

“Because they want to demonstrate that they’re not powerless, that they’re to be feared,” Ten finished, 

“But this seems extreme.”

“When it’s backed into a corner, that is when a tiger becomes the most ferocious,” Shou Bun Kun cut in, finishing his sentence with a heavy sigh.

The group was silent for a moment.

“How do you kill something that can’t feel pain?” Shin asked quietly.

“According to Ou Hon, there’s only one known way to kill these monsters - sever their heads from their necks,” Ei Sei replied, drawing his finger across his neck, “despite being dead, it seems that their brains may still play a part in controlling their bodies, and severing that connection takes them down.”

Ten stared fiercely at the map, her brows furrowed as she bit her finger and became lost in her thoughts.

“Ten? Do you have something to say?”

She was silent for a moment before saying, “Sei…why did you call Shin and I here? Why us, of all the people in this kingdom?”

“Because you both are the leaders of the Hi Shin Unit, which will accompany me to Shintei.”

“Han’s capital,” Ten murmured to Shin, already knowing he was about to ask. She then looked back to Sei, “Why the Hi Shin Unit? Why not an army? The more men to face these things, the better, right?”

“Going up to Shintei with an entire army would be insanity,” Ou Hon said, “A small unit of 1,000 is ideal - big enough to protect His Majesty, small enough to not be too threatening. Myself and Mou Ten will be accompanying as well.”

“Wait, but Mou Ten has a foot in the grave after that fight with Kan Mei, right?” Shin interjected.

“He’s coming for the same reason as Ten,” Sei explained, “we need intellect on this voyage. We’ll need to plan logistics, and maybe even study these monsters, if we get the chance. Ten and the commander are both specially recognized by Shou Hei Kun while not being part of his faction, so I trust them wholeheartedly.”

“Are you certain Mou Ten isn’t at all part of Ryo Fui’s faction?” Ten looked over to Ou Hon as she said this - if anyone in this room knew, it would be him.

“He’s not,” Ou Hon declared, rubbing the end of the long braid over his shoulder between his fingers, “Mou Ten has told me many times before that he has no interest in participating in the politics of this nation and has refused any and all of Ryo Fui’s requests to officially join his faction.”

Sei stood up, brushing off the knees of his robe, “I know I’ve just placed very heavy news on the both of you, and I’m sure you have many questions as of yet. But join me for lunch. I’m sure it’s been months since either of you have had a meal besides battlefield rations.”

“Hell yeah!” Shin jumped up, startling the group.

Sei lead them to an ornate table full of some of the palace’s finest foods, and before anyone else had sat down, Shin was already seated and stuffing himself.

Ou Hon rolled his eyes and Shou Bun Kun sighed as Ten and Sei laughed.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait y'all! i hope you're all doing well, hopefully chapters will start coming out quicker!!

Three days of planning and logistics later, Mou Ten was well enough to join in on the meetings. Despite his weakened frame, and his complexion being even paler than normal, he stood tall and proud as he walked into the throne room. Like Ou Hon, he wore a different set of clothes than he normally did - pink, yellow, and white silks hung off his scrawny torso. 

“Mou Ten! Glad to see you’re cured of that little scratch,” Shin greeted with a smile, standing up to set a hand on his shoulder.

Mou Ten laughed, then winced, bending over and clutching the fabric of his robes where his wound was.

“Don’t make him laugh, idiot,” Ou Hon scolded.

Shin could’ve sworn he saw the red head’s cheek go a light shade of pink as he thanked the stony faced young man.

Huh.

“Commander, I’m glad to see you’re feeling better. I ask you to join us, though if you ever feel you need to rest, don’t hesitate to say something.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Mou Ten replied, dipping his head in greeting as he sat down beside Ou Hon.

Shin began to drift off a couple times as others in the group droned on, and he could always trust Ten to jab him with her elbow to wake him up. From who would occupy the throne to how many pounds of food they would need to bring, the young man just couldn’t bring himself to stay awake.

They followed this routine for three more days - talking strategy, letting Mou Ten rest up, eating meals, going to sleep, on and on and on, until the seventh day since Shin and Ten arrived at the palace. That was the day of departure.

As the five teens sat on their horses, they were met with loud and feverish fanfare as the sun smiled down on them, basking them in his golden glow. Sei rode in front, decked out in gold and silver armour like what he’d worn to Sai. Shin was on his left, with a new suit of blue armour paired with a long black hooded cape that could clasp around his shoulders to keep warm. Ten had the same style of cape in red, plus a set of bronze armour that she was still getting used to. Mou Ten rode to Shin’s left, wearing his usual pink robe and golden armour, with a white shawl over his shoulders. Ou Hon waited on Ten’s right, proudly displaying his usual silver armour, complete with his headband and hairpiece, along with a deep purple cape. 

“Good luck, Your Majesty!”

“May fortune be with you!”

“Make us proud!”

Small papers with words of good fortune written on them rained down on the small group. Shin snatched one out of the air and stared at it between his fingers, puzzled, before asking Mou Ten what it said.

“It says, ‘Best of luck, Your Majesty’.”

Shin looked over to Sei who held up his arm, waving at the citizens, and grinned proudly at how noble his friend looked. Sei had told them earlier that the situation on the front lines was to be of absolute secrecy. So, despite not knowing what their king was setting out to do, the people waved them off with smiles and words of luck. Approval of Sei by the people had skyrocketed since word of what he did at Sai spread, and in the past week, a small fortune’s worth of gifts had been sent to him out of gratitude. He’d risked the skin on his neck, and paid the price with a wound to that very place. The people knew this, and knew that he was setting out from the cushy palace life once again, risking it all for his citizens.

This is what it meant to be a king who would do anything for his people.

●●●

Sei had expected Shin and Ou Hon to bicker, based on what Ten had told him, but luckily the distance between them was far enough, and Mou Ten kept Shin well distracted. They arrived at Sai by nightfall, and were greeted with cheers and joyful shouting from its citizens and the Hi Shin Unit.

Shin and Ten were almost tackled off of their horses, but Sei’s presence set the men straight once they’d noticed, and all bowed to him.

Despite being reunited with their comrades and receiving compliments on their new gear left and right, Shin and Ten couldn’t shake the deep feeling of worry in their gut, knowing that some of the faces before them would surely die in this war against unthinkable monsters.

When all had settled down, Sei gathered the commanders of the Hi Shin Unit in the lord’s building, right in the middle of Sai.

“I need the Hi Shin Unit to make one last journey before you can go home…” he started. After talking about the monsters, and having Ou Hon give his account, he finished by saying, “I trust you all to relay the information to your men.”

The commanders were dead silent, just as Shin and Ten had been when they’d been told the same information.

“This is a suicide mission, isn’t it?” So Sui said softly.

“So Sui -” Ten started, but she was interrupted by Shin.

“Yeah. So what?” All heads in the room turned to look at him as he continued gruffly, “These enemies might be a bit tougher than normal, sure, but it’s the same as any old war. We’re risking our lives in service to King Ei Sei in order to protect Qin. You heard ‘im, go tell your men. And make sure you all rest up.”

It was so unlike Shin to be serious, especially when referring to Sei, and it worried Ten. Something was wrong.

The commanders rose wordlessly from their wooden chairs, scraping them against the cold stone floor, filing out one by one.

“I can’t remember the last time you referred to His Majesty by anything other than his first name,” Mou Ten joked, trying to break the tense silence.

“It was certainly a change,” Sei said, “But Shin’s advice applies to all of us. Go get some rest.”

●●●  
Shin wished he could’ve taken his own advice, but found that the knot deep in his gut that got more tangled day by day and the gory images that had been swimming in his mind for the past week fought off sleep quite effectively. Sighing deeply, he pushed the soft covers off of him and walked over to the window of his room. Pushing it open, his eyes widened.

The moon was full that night. She hung in the night sky like the gleaming silver button on his black cape, surrounded by bright, twinkling stars. There were scattered spots on the bright orb, pale indigo in colour, and they seemed to create a face which smiled down at him sweetly like a blessing from the Heavens. His room flooded with her soft silver light, and he felt himself tearing up. In the past seven days, so many new things had happened that he could barely keep up. He had to be strong for Sei and Ten, because that was his role - he was the optimist, the one who always looked ahead, the stone pillar that held them upright. But even the strongest of pillars would eventually crumble.

Shin found himself openly weeping, darkening the soft green silk he wore with splattered tears. He was strong, he and everyone around him knew this. But he’d become a thousand man commander by killing ordinary humans - not cannibalistic dead men who didn’t feel pain. Who knows how he would fare against those things? What if this glowing globe before him was the last full moon he’d ever see? What if Ten died? Or Sei? What if he never saw Kyou Kai again?

As he cried in Chang’e’s cold white light, Shin felt exhaustion take over his senses, and sleep finally embraced him, pulling him into darkness.

●●●

“Look alive, Shin,” Sei told him as the blue-clad man sleepily climbed onto his horse, tangling himself up in his cape, “Your men need a good boost of morale.”

It was true. Shin had eaten with the Hi Shin Unit that morning, and he noticed how disturbed and wary they all looked. Though there was still conversation, the men were much less rowdy than they normally would be at the prospect of going to war.

“It’s not too late to back out, you ant,” Ou Hon declared from Ten’s right side, “I’m sure the Gyoku Hou and Gaku Ka units could do just as good of a job as you.”

“Oi, shut up! My Hi Shin Unit could beat your Gyoku Hou guys any day of the week!”

Sei only chuckled, now understanding what Ten had told him about. As Ou Hon and Shin glared venomous daggers at each other, Sei turned his horse around, facing the Hi Shin Unit.

“Men of the Hi Shin Unit!” he called out, silencing the soft murmurs of the crowd, “I am asking for your help once again! We must combine all of our strengths to save Qin! We will emerge victorious!”

Shin saw his unit changing before his eyes, it was a small change, a small boost in morale, but still a change.

“Hi Shin Unit, move out!” he cried, loving the response of his men yelling back to him

The loud cheers of Sai’s citizens escorted them out of the city, officially commencing the voyage that would change some lives, and end others.

●●●

“So...where are we gonna be staying, anyways?”

Four heads turned to stare at Shin silently.

“Wow, I knew you’re not all there, but I didn’t know you were a bad listener, too,” Mou Ten commented, holding back a laugh.

“See what Kyou Kai and I have to put up with?” Ten sighed, “Fine, I’ll tell you. We’re going to travel through the night until we reach the end of Bu Pass, the city of Sou. After that point, we’ll have to be careful - undead territory is past the frontlines, close to the Wei border, but they may have wandered farther West. Mou Ten-sempai and I are still working through a solid travel plan to make it to Han.” “Whatever we do, I’ll have to be careful,” Mou Ten sighed, “I’m in no shape to fight. Hell, I shouldn’t even be traveling right now. Shin and His Majesty can be Ten’s knights in shining armour, and Ou Hon can be mine,” Mou Ten joked, glancing over to the latter to see if he’d react. He did not. Unsuccessful in his attempt at banter, the redhead sighed softly and went back to comfortable silence. Eventually, Shin and Ten fell back to join the commanders of the Hi Shin Unit walking behind them, and Sei was left with Mou Ten and Ou Hon.

“Your Majesty.”

Sei looked over to Mou Ten.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how do you know Shin and Ka Ryo Ten-chan? All three of you seem to go way back, and Shin talks about you all the time on the battlefield.”

Sei looked back and forth between the two commanders a few times, then sighed softly through his nose.

“Being sons of nobles, I’m sure you’ve both heard about Sei Kyou’s attempt at a coup d’etat a few years back,” he started, and continued when both nodded, “Well, Shin had a friend, a slave like him, named Hyou. Hyou looked exactly, like me, he could have been my twin brother, and…”

Sei told his entire story. From the moment he met Hyou, to Shin punching him in Kokuhi village, to meeting Yo Tan Wa, he told the young commanders every detail.

“I didn’t know what Ten was at first…”

“Yo Tan Wa was truly terrifying…”

“The palace walls were stained with blood…”

Mou Ten’s question had broken the floodgates, and Sei’s story came pouring out of him like an unstoppable torrent of precious memories. Very few people in this world knew of his past - not even Kou knew how deeply his relationship with them went. Having kept this story bottled up inside him for years, he felt the overwhelming need to give them every detail. When he was finished, it was late afternoon, and the sun was peeking over the top of the steep passage walls.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I didn’t mean to ramble.”

“Please don’t worry,” Mou Ten smiled, “I feel like I understand Shin, Ka Ryo Ten-chan, and Your Majesty much better now.”

Ou Hon softly hummed in agreement. It was one hell of a story.

The group stopped for an hour - to eat, to move around, and, of course, to check up on wounds.

“Ow, ow, ow!!” Mou Ten said through gritted teeth as Ten rubbed a poultice over his wound. The girl pulled back, startled. “Don’t worry, I can take it, just ignore me.”

Shin felt himself cringe as he watched Ten dress Mou Ten’s wound, kneeling on the ground beside him. When he’d taken off his shawl and robe, the bandages were crusted with dried blood, despite having been changed the night before. The wound itself was a jagged line of pink, risen skin travelling down the left side of his chest. The stitches holding it together were starting to come apart. In those places, he’d started to bleed through, and his pale skin was stained crimson. The moist red tissue underneath the broken stitches glistened in the day’s fading light. Another hiss of pain was ripped from Mou Ten as Ten tightened the knot of the bandages..

“You’ll need to be very careful, Mou Ten-sempai,” she warned, “The stitches are already coming apart. I’ll do what I can to fix them when we arrive in the first city, or maybe there’ll be doctors there.”

“I will. Jeez, maybe Kan Mei will manage to kill me from beyond the grave,” he sighed, shaking his head. Shin couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped.

Sei, Ten, and Ou Hon all turned to stare.

“Don’t look at me like that, it was funny!”


End file.
